Again, thank you for your commitment to the Stanwood-Camano School District!

The community has clearly indicated their support for a new Stanwood High School, Lincoln Hill High School/Linclon Academy/Saratoga alternative program facility and maintenance/technology building. The district has been told by numerous sources that "now the real work begins," and the district is happy to have the opportunity. Below please find an update about what is currently being done and a preliminary timeline.

The question, for today is "Do you have any statistics on how our $147m budget ranks with other local new high school expenditures?"

Yes, we have statistics that analyzed the cost per square foot actually incurred on other school district high school projects. This information was provided to the Planning Committee early in the process. A word of caution when comparing different projects: The bid cost for construction is not the only cost factor in a project. Our total project cost estimate includes construction, design and engineering, sales tax (9.1%), furniture and equipment, site development unique to our location, bond issuance costs, and many other items for a complete project.

The costs were broken down into numerous line items (i.e.. foundations, footings, walls, roofing, interior finishes, mechanical systems, etc.) related to those actual construction costs and then adjusted for escalation (inflation) up to the projected bid date.

People often compare the cost of the Lakewood High School project to our budget. It is my understanding that the actual cost of the Lakewood HS project is $67km. The current Lakewood high school enrollment is around 731 students. That project was out to bid about 2 years ago.

The SHS project will house 1230 high school students plus 130 Lincoln Hill/ Academy students plus 160 Saratoga students. This is a total of 1520 students and a total project budget of $147.5m. The number of students housed in our project is 208% (1520 divided by 731) greater than Lakewood. 208% X $67m = $139,360,000. Lakewood bid out at least 2 years ago and we have at least 1 more year before bidding, so a total of 3 years of cost escalation needs to be built in. Using an inflation (cost escalation) rate determined by 5 independent construction data sources of 4% for 3 years the estimated cost of Lakewood's project built to house Stanwood's student population would be $156,761,047. The total project cost for the Stanwood project is $147,535,000, which, on a comparative basis, is $9,226,047 less than the cost of the Lakewood project.

Of course, each project is unique. Not all high schools have the same CTE (Ag. Shop, culinary arts, greenhouse, etc), performing arts, or science lab needs, or the same site conditions. We feel that this budget will allow us to build a quality building using the same durable materials that were included on the Cedarhome, Elger Bay, and Utsalady elementary schools so that we get more than 50 years of low maintenance use.

Thanks everyone for passing on your questions. Please let me know if you need any other information or would like to meet in person to discuss this further.

Recently, questions have been asked about the possible impact the McCleary Decision could have on financing new schools. Specifically, the question is: How does this decision impact the proposed Stanwood High School bond measure?

The McCleary Decision centers on the failure of the state to meet it's obligation to provide all students in Washington equal access to educational opportunities. The focus of the court ruling is on the operational cost side of the school districts and over reliance on Maintenance and Operation Levy funding. Maintenance and Operations Levies provide funding for the day-to-day costs of educating children. Capital expenditures for new schools and related bond issues are not included in the court decision. Bond proposals are limited to financing the costs of constructing, remodeling, and equipping school buildings.

The McCleary decision neither refers to nor does it make recommendations for changing school construction funding.

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The Stanwood-Camano School District does not discriminate in employment, programs, or activities on the basis of age, creed, religion, race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, honorably discharged veteran or military status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability or use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the District's Title IX/Affirmative Action Officer and Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Maurene Stanton, or the Section 504/American Disabilities Act Coordinator, Robert Hascall, Stanwood-Camano School District, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Telephone: (360) 629-1200.